If it doesn't taste good, why eat it?

carrots

Are you a fan of the “morning glory” muffin? They are the breakfast muffin with a little bit of everything in them- carrots, raisins, apple butter, wheat germ, nuts. Well this cookie is similar to that. Packed with fiber, servings of fruit and vegetable, whole grains, and warm spices this cookie has a lot going for it health-wise. And it’s tasty too!

Ingredients:

1 cup raw, un-salted walnuts

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 carrots, grated

1 apple, grated

1 very ripe banana, peeled and mashed

1/4 cup apple juice

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper

Combine the walnuts, oats and raisins in a food processor and pulse until ground

Transfer to a bowl and stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger

Add carrots, apples, banana and apple juice and mix until combined

Drop by tablespoons one inch apart on the baking sheet, making about 24 cookies

Press down on each cookie with the back of a fork to flatten them a bit (peanut butter cookie-style)

Although this dish is a stew, it’s not so terribly heavy that it wouldn’t be fine to eat all spring long. On any cool night, or rainy day. For lunch or for dinner. With rotisserie chicken on the side or as a vegetarian dish. This recipe uses so many different spices and is so fragrant that I got comments every time I heated it up at work. What a well-rounded flavor profile! It’s sweet and spicy, and smooth all at the same time.

This chili is a thing of beauty. By beauty I mean that the flavor of the green bell pepper transforms from an underripe, sharp, crisp bite to something soft and sweet. The ancho chili & crushed red pepper are balanced by the sweet potato and carrots. The mushrooms provide a welcome texture contrast. There is nothing boring about this dish. Served with bread and, yes, a little butter (as there is almost zero fat in the entire pot) it is wonderful. The bread is almost necessary to sop up the nice broth left in the bottom of the bowl. You just can’t leave it there to be washed down the drain….

sweet potato & kidney bean chili

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

4 medium cloves garlic, chopped

1 TBS fresh ginger, chopped

1 medium carrot, sliced

1 medium green pepper, cut in 1-inch squares

2 cups sweet potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes

2 cups portobello mushrooms, quartered

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 TBS tomato paste

1 TBS + 2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained

salt & black pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop the garlic and onions and let them sit for about 5 minutes while you chop all of the other veggies

chopped onion, garlic, sweet potato, green bell pepper and carrot

quartered portobello mushrooms

Heat 1 TBS of broth in a soup pot. Sauté the onion in broth over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until translucent

A stand-up carrot cake recipe is always a good thing to have in one’s repertoire, in my opinion. This recipe is stand-up. It’s flavorful without being over-done. It’s moist without being heavy or greasy. It’s loaded with fruits and, therefore, fiber (which must mean that it’s healthy-right?). And to top it off, it gets frosted with goat cheese. Yum!

What I will also point out is that this recipe is easier on the tongue than it is on the eyes. The cupcake is not necessarily what I would call gorgeous, but it is damn tasty. It holds its shape well, but the frosting on top is definitely what makes it look more appealing.

For a cool and/or rainy day this is a fantastic stew which manages to be thick and creamy, but not heavy. The sour cream and Greek yogurt give this dish a delightful tang that keeps your mouth coming back for more. The stew comes together easily, and does not take a ton of time for cooking. If you have a food processor on hand, you can cut down on prep time too.

I opted to serve the stew over some brown rice that I’d done in a rice cooker with chicken broth, but it would also do well over egg noodles or quinoa.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium leeks, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1/2 pound baby bella mushrooms, sliced

Salt and pepper

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into chunks

All-purpose flour, for dusting

Poultry seasoning

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

½ cup non-fat sour cream

½ cup non-fat Greek yogurt

Directions

In a Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the leeks and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened

Add the mushrooms & carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender. Scrape the leeks and mushrooms onto a plate

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour mixed with poultry seasoning.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet. Add the chicken and cook over moderate heat until golden brown, but not necessarily cooked through

Add the chicken stock and thyme and simmer over moderate heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to the plate with the vegetables.

Simmer the stock over a moderately high heat until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Return the chicken, leeks and mushrooms to the skillet and simmer over low heat until warmed through, about 1 minute

In a small bowl, blend the sour cream with the yogurt and stir into the stew. Remove the pan from the heat. Season the stew with salt and pepper and serve (over some cooked rice)

J

Recipe adapted from an article in Food and Wine, recipe by Jamie Oliver